New Horizon (The Survivors Book Nine)

by Nathan Hystad

  Slate went first, and he stepped back, becoming camouflage with the wall behind him. We could still see him if we looked closely, but it was hard to tell where Slate ended and where the wall began.

  Sergo’s eyes were wide. I could only imagine him wanting to take a suit like this, thinking about all the thefts he could pull off while being invisible. He tried his next, and it worked.

  Soon we were all ready. “Suma, these suits have the same built-in shield against their emitters, right?” I asked, knowing they did. I wanted to be sure. If we dropped into the ship only to have our suits incapacitated, it would all be for nothing.

  “Roger roger,” she said, making me smirk.

  “We’re set,” I said, seizing a pulse rifle from the cabinet. Once we were all armed, we waited for Dubs to let us know we were docked.

  The inhabitants of the vessel we were heading for might learn we’d arrived, and I didn’t know what to expect. I felt like an old-school pirate docking on a supply boat, using grappling hooks and advancing on the people with curved scimitars; only we were in armored suits, with cloaking devices. This was far more advanced.

  I felt a slight rumble under my feet and knew this was it.

  “We have clamped to their side. You should be able to use the Jaws to enter,” Dubs said.

  We entered the airlock, separated by an energy field, which would keep anything but us from entering our ship.

  Slate held a tool in his hand and used it to cut an opening in their hull. As soon as it spread wide, five feet up and to the sides, another energy barrier linked from each edge of the hole. We had our entrance.

  I peered inside and found a dark room. I flipped on the infrared setting on my visor, and everything glowed green. Crates lined the near wall, and a door sat closed a short distance away. We were in some kind of storage room, and I counted our blessings that there were no enemy robots inside ready to attack us.

  “Everyone in,” I said, letting them pass. I was the last to leave our ship, and Slate tapped the opening as we went by, turning it dark. We knew it was still there, but it wasn’t visible to the naked eye. I didn’t know if that meant the Maev wouldn’t be able to see it. It depended on their construction.

  We piled into the room, and Slate moved for the doorway, holding his rifle up. Controls sat embedded in the wall, and he lifted a finger before pressing a button. The metal slab slid wide. The corridor beyond was pitch black.

  “I guess they don’t need lights,” Loweck said.

  “Robots,” Sergo muttered. “Never liked them.”

  Slate frowned at them, and they ceased speaking. He waved us forward.

  “Slate, the sensors are picking things up more clearly now that we’re so close. The room with the emitter is to your left, below about two hundred meters or so, then across the ship.” Suma’s voice was calm.

  “Got it,” Slate whispered, and started moving away from us. I let Loweck take the rear and kept Sergo ahead of me where I could monitor him. His head darted around as he searched the empty hall.

  The walls were welded metal, rough along the edges. The Maev didn’t seem to care about aesthetics, especially if they didn’t need lights. I really hated going in blind like this. We had no idea how many of them there were, if any. For all I knew, the emitter was automated, and the Maev had left this desolate wasteland in space long ago.

  That felt the most likely. Why would they stick around with nowhere to go and nothing to see? It didn’t seem likely, especially given that the Maev had gone so far as to download a cerebral cortex into an android. They wouldn’t perform such calculated precision so they could sit idly by as years went on.

  It didn’t take long to reach the end of the corridor. It gave us one option, and we veered right, entering a vast open room. We were on a grated metal bridge that expanded across the space below. A few lights blinked from consoles and screens along the walls, and I tried to see which the Emitter might be.

  “It appears to be under you, twenty meters to the left,” Suma told us. We were invisible, and the shields around our armored suits were supposed to suppress any electrical or energy emissions we were giving off, but I was still nervous as we moved along the bridge. I kept glancing behind us, expecting an attack.

  “If we locate the Emitter, where do we find the data for Zoober?” I asked quietly.

  “One thing at a time.” Slate’s even voice cut through my earpiece. “I’ll take the lead.”

  He’d reached the end of the hallway, and he stepped down a ladder, taking him toward the floor. This ship must have once been used by a bipedal race, given the construction. As curious as I was to see the type of robot the Maev had entered into, I was glad to not have encountered them so far.

  Slate hit the ground and waved Sergo forward. The Padlog began his descent, and they attacked. Pulse beams shot from the far wall, their brilliance nearly blinding me in my night vision. I flipped it off and set a hand on Loweck, moving away from the ladder.

  “I can’t die like this!” Sergo shouted, and I heard his footfalls across the floor, heading away from the source of the pulse fire.

  “Sergo!” Slate hissed through my earpiece.

  Slate fired, and I saw sparks as he hit his target. He didn’t stop there. He ran toward the far edge of the room and kept firing.

  “Slate, to your left,” Suma said through our common channel, helping as she watched his livestreaming feed. He heeded her advice and fired, striking another robot. I flipped the night vision on, and raced to the ladder on the opposite end of the bridge. Two tall robots spread out on the floor like eight-foot-tall skeletons. They were light-colored, maybe white. It was hard to tell when the visor made everything green.

  “There could be more,” I said, and Slate nodded. We cleared the room, finding no more signs of Maev robots.

  “It’s a shame. Do their minds live on inside there somewhere?” I asked as we regrouped in the middle of the room.

  “They shot first, Boss,” Slate said, as if I was upset that he’d destroyed them.

  “I know. I’d have done the same thing. To be fair, we did board their ship like space pirates,” I said grimly.

  “Let’s focus on the Emitter, take one of these” – Slate pointed to the robots – “and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps. Especially with skeletal killer machines wandering around in the dark.”

  “Agreed,” Loweck said. “Where’s Sergo?”

  Eleven

  “I knew we made the wrong call bringing that pest on our team.” I spat the words out.

  Loweck was already unscrewing the Emitter from its position on the table. Its lights kept blinking, and we saw it was powered on the underside by a glowing red stone. I had no idea what it was, but I’d bet Suma and Clare would be excited to see it.

  “Secure it,” she told us, and I saw Slate trying to carry the robot up the ladder. It was too heavy. He dropped it to the floor with a clatter, and I scanned the room for signs of attack. When none came, I ran over to Slate, assessing the still robot.

  “We could take its head?” I suggested.

  “A little morbid, but it might have to do. Suma, thoughts?” Slate asked the Shimmali woman patiently waiting on our ship.

  “Dubs agrees that might be the best course of action. He also suggests we check for any panels beneath the chest or back. The processors could be inside there,” Suma said.

  We flipped it over and scanned the posterior frame, then checked the front. There was a line directly in the center of its ribcage. I pressed it and it hinged open, revealing another red stone, this one not glowing. My night vision was off now, and I searched with my helmet flashlight as we detached the head from the body. It wasn’t pretty work. Wires dangled loose as Slate shoved the head into a pack, draping it over his shoulder.

  “We have the Emitter, a robot head, and some red rock, and that’s going to have to be enough for Zoober,” I said. “Now we need to find Sergo.”

  “Sergo, come in.” Slate said it ag
ain, but we had no response.

  “Where the hell is he, Suma?” I asked.

  “His feeds are dark. He’s not replying,” she told me.

  “Do you think he was killed?” Loweck asked.

  “I searched the feeds. He was running, then it went blank, but I couldn’t see anything,” Suma advised.

  “Let’s go. He went this way.” I found a doorway in the direction Sergo had bolted, and it slid open as I pressed the icon on the screen. “Which direction?”

  “I’m sensing a light reading in the corridor, toward the bridge. He must have gone that way,” Suma told us. It was as good a lead as any.

  We strode through the halls, a little less stealthily than we wanted. If there were more Maev on the ship, I expected them to know we were here already, especially after all the racket in the central room, and with Sergo running like a madman through the corridors.

  The bridge of the ship was ahead, and the door opened, revealing a cockpit not unlike our own. This vessel was about ten times the size of our Padlog ship, and the bridge appeared to have positions for around eight crew members.

  A robot sat slumped in the middle chair, clearly meant for the captain. Sergo was in the corner of the room, a hand-held device in his palm.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Slate asked the insectoid.

  “What any good thief would do on board an alien vessel. I’m scavenging,” he said. “And trying to stay alive. Good to see you all made it.”

  “No thanks to you.” I crossed the room to stand beside him. “What is it?”

  “It’s their star maps. I can make a fortune with these. There’s some seriously dark space stuff on here. I can’t wait to dig into it,” he said.

  “Sorry, Sergo. That’s now property of the Ghosts.” I saw it was finished downloading and I took the device from him, tossing it to Slate.

  “Hey, you can’t do that!” Sergo began to argue, but he saw the device in Loweck’s grip. “Is that… the Emitter?” His bug eyes grew wide at the sight, and I half-expected him to lick his lips.

  “That’s not for you either. If you’ve had enough, I think it’s time to return.” I nervously glanced at the motionless robot in the seat and kept my rifle up just in case.

  It only took a few minutes to retrace our steps and enter our ship, and I was thrilled with how smoothly it had gone. I was waiting for the other foot to fall.

  “Good work, Ghosts,” I told them as Slate deactivated the opening between our two vessels, and we decontaminated ourselves before exiting the airlock. We had no idea what kind of toxins or viruses might have been living on that ancient ship, and I didn’t want to take any chances.

  My helmet clanged loose, and I set it down, removing the armored suit. Hectal was there, helping us return them to their place. “I wish I could have shot a robot,” he told us, and Slate clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Next time, buddy. I promise,” Slate said with a grin.

  We moved for the bridge, and Dubs sat there awaiting instructions. “Any changes?” I asked.

  “Nothing. So long as we keep the Emitter running, we should be good,” Suma said, and a second later, over a hundred icons appeared on our radar sensors.

  “What is that?” Walo asked with a buzz.

  Suma’s voice was a whisper. “Someone shut the Emitter off.”

  Every dead ship in the system sprang to life at the same time. “There can’t be anyone behind the wheel,” I said, calming my nerves. “It’s been…”

  Two dozen of the previously dead space vessels surrounding us commenced movement, heading directly for our position.

  “Take us out, Dubs,” I ordered, and we broke free from the Maev ship, which wasn’t quite as dead as it had been moments ago.

  “There are too many of them, Captain. If we stay on this course, we will be intercepted in under two minutes,” Dubs said.

  “Think. Think,” I muttered, tapping the side of my head.

  “Dean, we need to activate the Emitter. It will kill them again!” Suma was moving for the rear of the ship.

  “Loweck, where did you put it?” I asked as we moved, and she followed after me.

  “I set it beside Slate’s pack. Sergo…”

  “Sergo,” I hissed.

  We found him staring at the device, holding it and flipping it around. He grinned as we approached, and I stopped a few feet short of him. I stretched my arm out. “Sergo, hand it over.”

  “What? I was only admiring it.” He set it in my grip, and I passed it over to Suma.

  “Sergo, what did you do? How did you turn it off?” Suma asked, and I saw the red crystal was no longer glowing.

  “Uhmm, I tapped the… on the top,” he stuttered, and our ship rocked.

  “They caught us,” I said. “Hurry.”

  “Who caught us?” Sergo asked; then his face twisted as realization struck him. “Oh no. I didn’t mean… I was only…”

  Suma tapped it a few times, bringing a screen to life on the top. She squinted, and her snout wagged as she attempted to power it up once more. The ship rocked again, this time sending us sprawling. The Emitter bounced from her grip and landed on the floor of the hangar with a clatter. We all scrambled for it, and Sergo found it first. He hit the screen with panic, and the crystal began to light up.

  “Dubs, talk to me!” I shouted, and his voice carried into the hangar’s speakers.

  “We’ve taken fire,” he said, and the ship trembled. “They’re beginning to fall back.”

  The crystal glowed bright red now, and the entire device appeared to vibrate in Sergo’s grip.

  “The icons are disappearing. The Emitter is turned on?” Slate’s voice asked.

  “Yes.” I stood up, helping Suma to her feet, and Loweck ripped the Emitter from Sergo’s hand.

  “I wish we had a brig on board,” she said, glaring at the Padlog man.

  “I didn’t mean to do that. I was only inspecting it,” Sergo said.

  I pushed Sergo ahead of me, forcing him to the bridge. “If it’s fine by you, I’d like you to sit quietly and not touch anything for the duration of the trip.”

  Sergo raised his hands and nodded. “No problem,” he said, but I found that hard to believe.

  We watched in silence as Dubs carried us away from the old battlefield, and I wondered how many Maev minds were still active around the region. We moved past it, and an hour later, we were heading toward the Horizon.

  ____________

  “This is amazing.” Suma scrolled through the data, and I tried to keep up.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t think we’re going to need the robot head, but it will make a nice mantel piece for Slate and Loweck at home,” Suma said with a laugh.

  “This has all the information we need to convince Zoober to play ball?” I asked.

  “Play ball?” Suma asked, and shook her head. “Never mind, I think I get it. It does, but this is dangerous stuff, Dean. Showing someone how to store their mind inside a machine could lead to all sorts of philosophical issues and ethical questions.”

  “What about the map Sergo was going on about?” I asked.

  She accessed the file, brining the 3D image to life. She moved through it, uncovering hundreds of systems beyond the boundaries any of the Alliance of Worlds members had record of. “This appears to show over one thousand worlds that could be teeming with life. How have we never seen this before?”

  “Because,” I traced a finger through an immense dark patch on the screen, “there’s nothing for something like a hundred light years. That’s a long way to cross.”

  Suma leaned back, staring at the image. “Dean, we need to cross-reference the Crystal Map with this.”

  I tapped the screen, feeling excited. “You mean… we can learn which worlds on the Maev map show life, and which ones link to the fully expanded Shandra network.” I let out a laugh. “This could be a great way for the Gatekeepers to make contact with other worlds across this dark sp
ace.”

  Suma beamed. “Wait until my dad sees this!”

  “What’s all the enthusiasm for?” Slate asked from the doorway.

  We explained the theory to him, and he nodded along. “It sounds fine, but it’s also a good way to stick your head into a hornet’s nest.” Walo appeared at his side. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”

  “What is a hornet?” she asked, and Slate suppressed a laugh. I could tell from the smirk on his face it was a challenge.

  I took over. “Walo, it’s an insect from Earth. They… well, they look a lot like you. The same markings… the… stinger.” I forced myself not to let my eyes wander behind her, where a stinger was nestled under her uniform.

  “I understand. And they’re dangerous?” she asked me.

  “They like to attack,” I told her, and she buzzed a laugh.

  “So do I,” she said.

  “How’s Sergo doing?” I asked her.

  “He’s fine. I’m sorry he’s so stupid. He really means well, he’s just…” Walo was cut off by each of us.

  “Self-absorbed,” I offered.

  “Brain dead?” Slate asked.

  “A terrible thief,” Suma finished.

  Walo cocked her head to the side. “I was going to say a buffoon, but you guys covered it. He is sorry, if that’s any consolation.”

  I doubted that was true, but let it slide. “We’re venturing to the Horizon. We can deal with him there.”

  “Actually, I spoke with Magnus. He thinks we should go straight to Zoober on the Tri-System Station to make the swap,” Slate said.

  “Did he say why?” I asked.

  “Because we’re losing two days, minimum, by passing it. I guess it’s been a long couple months being stationary,” he told me.

  I didn’t blame Magnus. I was growing weary of being crammed on this Padlog ship. Slate, Hectal, and I were sharing a room with two bunks, so we had to sleep in shifts, and there wasn’t much to do on board.